Dream Big—In the Small World of Illinois
Compiled by: Keiko Tanamura
| January 14, 1851 | Dora is born in the town of Olive, Ulster County, New York, the eldest daughter of father Jacob P. Schoonmaker (1826-1864) and mother Patience Smith Schoonmaker (1824-1902). Her childhood name was Isadora. | |
| 1855 | (4 years old) | March: Sister Louisa is born. |
| 1856 | (5 years old) | Dora’s family moves to a farming area near Wilmington, Will County, Illinois. |
| Brother Rodney B. is born. | ||
| 1858 | (7 years old) | Brother Wilber J. is born. |
| 1859 | (8 years old) | March: Sister Louisa dies at age 4 years, 3 days. |
| After reading The Life and Writings of Mrs. Harriet Newell, Dora is moved by it and aspires to become a missionary but later throws the book into the river hesitantly. | ||
| 1861 | (10 years old) | February: Twin sisters are born. However, one of the sisters dies seven weeks after birth in April. The other sister is named Ida. |
| (In March, Abraham Lincoln is elected president, and in April, the American Civil War begins) | ||
| 1862 | (11 years old) | Dora experiences a religious conversion. |
| 1863 | (12 years old) | November: Sister Harriet is born. |
| 1864 | (13 years old) | Dora’s family moves to nearby Channahon. |
| March: Father Jacob dies. | ||
| August: Uncle George dies in the Civil War. | ||
| 1865 | (14 years old) | October: Sister Harriet dies at age 1 year, 11 months. |
| 1866 | (15 years old) | July: Aunt Mary dies one month after giving birth to a son, and her son dies in August. |
| 1869 | (18 years old) | March: The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (WFMS-MEC) is formed in Boston. |
| June: The in-house publication Heathen Woman’s Friend (hereafter HWF) is published. | ||
| June: Dora graduates with high marks from Channahon public senior high school. She tells her mother about her aspirations for becoming a missionary. | ||